1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a surgical stapling device that has an improved and internally powered driving mechanism.
2. Background of the Related Art
Surgeons have recognized in the art the benefits of a compact surgical apparatus for the application of surgical clips and staples to body tissue in a number of different medical procedures. Often, prior art surgical staplers require some degree of physical force or lateral movement in order to operate a handle to actuate the surgical stapler and fire the staple after a compression to actuate the surgical stapler and fire the staple after a compression of tissue is made. It would be desirable to have a precise surgical stapler device that is compact and easy to use and will quickly and easily fire. Also, once compression of the desired stapling location is made, only a very limited degree of force to the surgical stapling device should be required in order to complete the actuation of the device and thus firing of the staples such as by actuating a trigger switch. Moreover, such a powered stapling device should be very easy to manipulate and hold by the surgeon.
Attempts have been made in the art to provide such a surgical stapling device that is pneumatic or gas powered and/or also externally powered in order to remedy this desire. However, it would be beneficial to provide a disposable apparatus for the application of staples to body tissue that is self contained, self powered and easy to manufacture.
Additionally, tissue exhibits visco-elastic properties. Once under pressure from a jawed structure such as an approximation device of a surgical stapler, the body tissue will slowly compress. Blood and other fluid traverses from the high pressure or gripped area to another low pressure or adjacent area. Once released, as expected the fluid will return from the adjacent area to the previously compressed area.
Prior art surgical stapling devices will approximate tissue. Then, once the approximation is made, the surgeon will introduce the staple into the body tissue.
It is desirable to provide a surgical stapler device that result in a uniform staple formation. It is also desirable to provide a surgical stapler device that allows for an appropriate time interval to elapse for tissue compression. This allows for the blood and fluid to travel away from the compressed area. Compression by an approximation device reduces the amount of blood and fluid therebetween. Without such compression, an uncompressed body tissue remains thicker whereas the compressed body tissue would be thinner, and more compact. The surgeon must control compression time by observing the tissue or by using a separate timing device.
Accordingly, compression of the tissue for the proper amount of time is important for a proper and uniform staple formation due to this viscoelastic tissue phenomenon.